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05 January 2009

So now we know where the Ig-man was…

Before you pile on Lawrence Martin’s latest column, consider the following:

1. The has to be a really good reason why the new Liberal leader has laid low - read been completely invisible - for the past couple of weeks. Writing a book is an excuse not a reason.

2. “By comparison to his predecessor, he is a man of magnitude.” Only in some small minds. That sort of comment belittles Stephane Dion in a fashion the man does not deserve on any account. it also inflates Iggy in a way he certainly doesn’t deserve.

3. Excuses, excuses…

At a volatile political juncture when the moment needs be seized, Iggy's off to a quiet and rather unremarkable beginning.

It's not so much his own doing.

If the guy’s dropped the ball, as Martin suggests, then there’s no reason to give him an excuse. Iggy wanted the job – has been drooling over the job – ever since the convention. If he wanted it so badly, his team should have been ready for the coronation they helped engineer. If the Ig-man’s off to a slow and quiet start, then it must be because his people want it that way. Ask why that would be rather than offer excuses.

4. And then it appears, sort of…:

The public discussion centres not so much on the new lord of the Liberals but on the continuing aversion to the idea of a Liberal-led coalition. Archduke Ignatieff, perhaps for good reason, has not wanted to disown the coalition concept.

The aversion to the coalition is within the Ig-man himself, not within the public at large. Well, at least the public could have been persuaded if someone wanted to push the idea. Staying quiet allowed the anti-coalition line to cement. That’s something you’d let occur only if you wanted it to happen.

Iggy hasn’t wanted to disown the coalition because there are lots of people within the Liberal Party – starting with Iggy-backer Warren the K – who want to bring down the Harperites NOW! They might take a decidedly different view of the new saviour of the party if his true feelings were clear up front. His actions, though, speak far louder than his words.

5. D’uh!

His low profile speaks too much of a party inclined to stay the course, as opposed to being in a rush to change it.

Larry finally gets it.

It just took him weeks and weeks and finally a ton of words to get to the point.

1 comment:

I am perfectly comfortable with Ignatieff's lower profile over the holidays. It only make's sense that he would focus on other business, such as putting together his staff in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, developing parliamentary strategy, preparing a constructive contingency responses to the budget, addressing pressing party issues including fundraising, organizational capacity, policy development and the myriad other impoprtant issues our new leader must address. Yes, Ignatieff positioned himself to become leader sooner rather than later, but who could have anticipated that it would happen so soon and so suddenly? The circumstances were bigger than anything Mr. Ignatieff could have controlled, so it is unfair to say he should have been prepared for it. If he had been conducting that king of preparation, he would have been accused of orchestrating a coup d'état. I think Mr. Ignatieff is being very strategic in the way he is handling the coalition issue, which is a lot better than the damn the careless, some might say desperate, approach of Mr. Dion who was more than willing to legitimize the NDP at the expense of the Liberal party. Martin's column is nonsensical fluff. He must have had a looming deadline and deadly New Year's hangover when he wrote it.